The grand old man gets the win for the AAA Indianapolis Indians on two innings pitched. Have to respect a player still trying to make his way back into the show.

__________________It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. - A. Bartlett Giamatti

From the middle of 2005 until the middle of 2006, he was the most dominant White Sox pitcher I have ever seen.

Apart from October 2005, my major memory of Jose is this one game in Cincinnati in 2006, where he struck out some absurd number of Reds. Including Adam Dunn four times, I think.

Same series as Jon Garland hitting a home run, I believe.

__________________"Hope...may be indulged in by those who have abundant resources...but its nature is to be extravagant, and those who go so far as to stake their all upon the venture see it in its true colors only when they are ruined."-- Thucydides

My opinion: Had Contreras come to the states at age 19, 2005-2006 would have been the tail end of a 15 year run of dominance and we'd be discussing which cap he'd be wearing on his Cooperstown plaque. Complete speculation that can never be substantiated of course, and it's entirely possible MLB's kids glove approach to handling pitchers may have ruined him if that were the case. Anyway, the dude was a beast when he had it going.

__________________"Respect was invented to cover the empty place where love should be."

I remember being at his first game with the Sox in Kansas City on my way to Colorado. Remember thinking to myself "This guy's got great stuff. If they could fix his head he could be a beast." Apparently they did. He had great stuff and it all seemed to come together for him in 05-06.